“Staff that would normally groom the trails or go in with power saws to cut down tree limbs have been sent home early because of this workforce adjustment,” said Eddie Kennedy, national executive vice-president for the Union of National Employees, a division of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

He said employees weren’t given an opportunity to find ways to maintain ski trails in more fiscally responsible ways, but were instead simply cut to save money.

“This wasn’t an exercise to find smarter ways to spend money.”

Well, actually it was. Not spending $29 million is better than spending $29 million, especially patting down snow trails so they’re nice and smooth when the skiers come sliding through.

Meanwhile, just for a little perspective, the Greek government has passed a package of $17 billion in spending cuts. Canada is getting off easy.